The Competition
I’ll start with some bad news first: I did not win The Write Practice’s Fall Writing Contest. If you’re new to the newsletter since August, you can read my submission, Eternally Happy, here.
The winning story was a good one, and so I’ll link to it as well. Gotta give credit where credit is due, and the winning writer, Tze Chua, came up with a really creative response to the prompt (Boundless: when your characters are limitless, what will they do?)
Regardless, I view it as an important event for me and my writing. Since I found out about the contest in August, I’ve written six short stories – many more than I would have otherwise. It’s a good reminder that external pressures and creative writing prompts are great catalysts for writing, and there’s no question that I’m a much more comfortable writer when I’m operating with at least one of those variables.
This is only the first of many future contests to come!
Usher In a Drearier Day
Fall is trying its best to come out in full, but this past week in New York City couldn’t decide between being cold, wet and grey and giving us a couple more beautifully sunny September days. I brought out my jacket for a walk one night and found some garbage stuffed in the pockets from the last cold walk I took, back in April in Connecticut. Time just keeps ticking on by.
I’m in the honeymoon phase of cold weather – I like it, I feel refreshed and invigorated by it, and I want it to stay. No doubt that will change once I’ve been caught outside in a flimsy jacket, or stepped into a cold, green slush puddle, but for the moment I’m sick of seeing temperatures in the 70s this close to Halloween.
I want my favorite running weather – 40 to 50 degrees – and the seemingly effortless runs that come with it. Instead I’m still wringing sweat from my hat and wearing short sleeves! The absolute worst. Running science is usually kind of wonky, but the 40 to 50 degree range has been “proven” to be the ideal temperature for distance running and I feel like I’m being robbed. Next thing you know, November will be in the 20s.
On Monday, when it still seemed likely we’d have a cold, gloomy week in the city, I spent some time searching for fall poems and stumbled upon this depressing gem, by Emily Brontë:
Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night’s decay
Ushers in a drearier day.
I’m ready for stinging cheeks and sore knuckles – bring on the cold!
America’s Elite Fencers
The Atlantic had a great article this week about the lengths wealthy families will go to in order to give their kids a leg up in the college application process. The focus this time? Niche sports like lacrosse, crew, squash and fencing, among others.
It’s a window into another world, one in which uncommon sports are used as a way into top universities, and no expense is spared on the way. Here’s one snapshot of the advantage gap:
“The Gold Coast of Connecticut pumps more athletic recruits into Ivy League schools than any other region in the nation. Kids’ sports look a little different here—as they do in upscale neighborhoods across America. Backyards feature batting cages, pitching tunnels, fencing pistes, Olympic-size hockey rinks complete with floodlights and generators.”
Like all bad-parenting porn, the article is a fun read. How could anyone care so much where their kid goes to college? That’s all I can think reading this stuff. Last year’s college recruiting scandal, Operation Varsity Blues, on top of being upsetting for a lot of people, was extremely sad for the kids involved. Dad doesn’t think you’re smart enough for USC? No worries! He’ll just spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, and photoshop of couple pictures of you in football pads, so that you won’t embarrass him at some lesser known school you can actually get into. Please do not let this affect your self-esteem.
On the surface, this situation seems very different. It’s legal to build a squash court in your home and hire a live-in pro, for one thing. But the outcome is the same. What better way to undermine your child’s sense of self-worth than to make such an effort on their behalf to get them to the Ivy League?
Here’s the UVA men’s lacrosse coach talking about Connecticut players:
“It’s easy to stereotype the Fairfield County player. The Fairfield County player is the rich kid who still has his umbilical cord connected: the kid who doesn’t really have to take ownership of his mistakes or actions.”
Here’s an Orange County college advisor talking to parents about their son’s concussions:
“Can we please step back and think about your child? He’s had three concussions, multiple overuse injuries, multiple surgeries—and he’s playing soccer in college? There’s not even a question of him not playing?”
And then here’s Sloane, a mother’s who’s realizing that rowing may be a better sport for her daughter than squash:
“My daughter is 5 foot 11. That’s not the optimum body for squash. She has the frame for rowing. I’ve always had it in the back of my head. Rowing moves the needle way more.”
It’s bizarre how priorities could get so distorted. Of everybody applying to schools, the ones with the most family wealth need the Ivy League the least. Yet it’s those same kids whose parents are maniacally focused on getting them in, at any cost.
This is snowplow parenting in athletic gear: “Machines chugging ahead, clearing any obstacles in their child’s path to success, so they don’t have to encounter failure, frustration or lost opportunities.”
Operation Warp Speed
This week, on its Coronavirus Outbreak banner, between links for case count and vaccine progress, the NYT had a link titled A Dose of Optimism. The article is worth a read, particularly as we all hunker down for the challenges of fall and winter: increased case count, darker days, fewer activities.
Here are some of the reasons Donald McNeill is optimistic for the recovery in the US:
- Mask-acceptance is at it’s highest level since March
- The average age of infected patients is 30 years younger than in the earliest months – a sign that the elderly are taking precautions
- Flu season is unlikely to be significant in the US, given the vaccination rate and prevalence of masks
- Progress on the COVID vaccine is promising, with multiple contenders expecting approval by January
- As a larger chunk of the population is either previously infected or vaccinated, the virus will have less opportunity to spread among the remaining vulnerable population
It’s just one article, and I’m sure some of you who are better-read on this kind of stuff can find points you disagree with. The death toll is still higher than it could have been, and the coming fall and winter could see some of those causes for optimism change.
But there’s an unshakeable feeling while reading that we have a clear plan for this virus. That we’re learning as a country how to prevent and treat it – sometimes later than we should – and that our collective efforts are paying off. That the government is funding the vaccine effort and our pharmaceutical industry is rising to the challenge. That there’s a reasonable case to be made for this coming spring being a time of great recovery.
For me, the presidential election has completely overshadowed these types of stories. Clearly Trump’s record on coronavirus is bad and will be remembered that way. But when everybody in leadership is shouting over how poorly it’s been managed, it’s easy to imagine that everything is being botched. That doesn’t seem to be the case, and I think it’s an important thing to remember. The president has far greater power over this thing than any other one individual, but that doesn’t mean he’s more powerful than the collective bunch of us.
Photographing the Microscopic
Super cool collection from The Atlantic this week of microscopic photography. I included my two favorites below but take a look at the full collection yourselves.
Bogong moth:
Nylon stockings:
That’s it from me this week!
-Emmett
Recent Posts:
Toasted Acorn Latte – So what’s it like? Nutty (Fiction, Funny, 5 minutes)
What I’m Reading: Travel essays!
Journey Into the Night – David Sedaris, New Yorker, 2007
“After settling in, the man looked out the darkened window. Then he bit his lower lip, covered his face with his remarkably large hands, and proceeded to sob, deeply.”
How to Use a Squat Toilet – Frank Bures, 2006
“Cultivate the right mindset. Relax, pretend like you’ve been doing this for years. Remember, using your hand is (according Wilson-Howarth) actually more hygienic, not less, than using toilet paper.”
What I’m Listening To:
The Man Who Studied 1,000 Deaths to Learn How to Live – Tim Ferriss Show, 2016
“When you hear anyone sneeze, either say it out loud or to yourself, say bless you. It’s like a neural loop of goodness, and it just means in that quick second you meant well toward somebody.”